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Quest Of The Four Talismans
Merklynn sends the Visionaries on a quest to retrieve four talismans, leading Cryotek and Galadria into great danger when they find the Earth Talisman. Synopsis It is a cold night in New Valarak, a year since Merklynn bestowed magic upon the Visionaries. The heat of a hearth is being enjoyed by the Spectral Knights Leoric, Galadria, Cryotek and Arzon when suddenly the fire flares up, but as Galadria notices, without any heat. The face of Merklynn appears in the flames, demanding the appearance of the Spectral Knights and the Darkling Lords at his sanctum in Iron Mountain. The Spectral Knights convene at the entrance to Iron Mountain, with the Darkling Lords. Leoric's hope for peace between the two groups is dashed quickly by Darkstorm, who reminds the Knight how weak he thinks he is. Before the disagreement can flare up, Merklynn appears in the stone face of the mountain to warn both groups of a great crisis. As he does so, Feryl notices that Merklynn seems weaker than the last time the groups saw him. Merklynn tells of four jewels, created in the first Age of Magic by the wizard Elvar the Wise. Each stone represents one of the four classical elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - and contains the power of its element. Together, they are almost unstoppable. Having disappeared ages ago, they have now returned to the world and Merklynn demands his Visionaries bring the jewels to him. Leoric readily agrees, but Darkstorm silently decides that such powerful artefacts must be his. Before the quest begins, Galadria and Virulina insist that Merklynn give them powers equal to those of the men. Merklynn agrees and bestows upon them shields equivalent to the power staffs - Healing for Galadria and Disease for Virulina. After issuing the group individual guides to the four talismans, Merklynn's stony visage disappears. Leoric tries again to forge a truce with the Darkling Lords, but Darkstorm will have none of it. Infuriated, Cryotek challenges Darkstorm to a fight, but is ignored. As Galadria calms him down, Cryotek muses that he increasingly feels his Bear totem beginning to take over his personality. Within Iron Mountain, Merklynn wishes the Visionaries haste and wonders if they'd be so keen to seek out the stones if they knew his real reason for wanting them. Three days later, Cryotek and Galadria are on the road north, following their spirit guide into unknown territory. Cryotek is ill-tempered at the situation and at Galadria's anthropomorphising of the silent, spherical ball of energy. Similar issues are coming up with the Darkling Lords Cravex and Reekon in the Dagger Assault, who follow a spirit guide in the shape of a flying lizard that Reekon insists is a "he". As the pair bicker, they notice a campfire ahead. Reekon turns into his Lizard totem and investigates, finding the camp of Cryotek and Galadria, who are bonding over Cryotek's surprising culinary talents. Their subsequent night's sleep is interrupted by an attack from the Darkling Lords though. The Dagger Assault's barrage has the Spectral Knights pinned down, but before it can make the kill, the vehicle and its occupants are attacked by a flurry of spears and hammers from a group of local savages. Unable to retaliate at such close range with the Dagger Assault's long-range weapons, Cravex uses Fear to drive the locals away. Unfortunately, his spell hits Reekon too, causing him to drive the Dagger Assault away at speed. Galadria and Cryotek are greeted by the local tribe's leader, Trakk. Trakk explains that his tribe have a special connection to the local land, thanks to a god in one of the nearby trees. The Spectral Knights' spirit guide quickly zooms over to the tree, because of course the god is in fact the Earth Talisman Merklynn desires. Trakk tells the Knights of how his people journeyed to this valley after the fall of Science and were spoken to in a dream by the Tree-God, encouraging them to plant seeds. These then grow with magical speed, creating a large bounty for the area. Cryotek asks Trakk why the tribe haven't shared this with anyone else, given the high rate of starvation elsewhere, but Trakk insists that his people are chosen and that everyone else should fend for themselves. Nearby, Reekon is eavesdropping as a lizard again, pegging the locals as greedy and suspicious. Galadria tries to make headway with Trakk, shaming his selfishness and suggesting that there is no god, just a magic jewel that she and Cryotek happen to be in need of. This suggestion is received with great hostility, which the Knights are barely able to dismiss. Later, Cryotek and Galadria scheme as to how to get the jewel, also pondering the need to make Trakk and his people realise that their insular nature is irresponsible. Before they reach any conclusion, Trakk and some locals take them to the God-Tree again, where Reekon and Cravex are waiting. The Darkling Lords call out Galadria and Cryotek as renegade knights, which Trakk considers plausible given they've turned up armed and looking to take the talisman. Cravex invokes Fear, to exacerbate the situation, forcing the tribespeople to attack the Spectral Knights. Cryotek turns into his bear form, accidentally setting fire to a haystack. As her head clears, Galadria notices that the Darkling Lords are stealing the talisman, so rushes them. Cravex gets the talisman free and uses it to knock out Galadria, leaving her in the path of the fire. The spirit guide notices this, so rushes to Cryotek, who is losing himself in the fury of his totem. It gets his attention and leads him to Galadria. Using Strength, Cryotek claps his hands to create a massive blast of air that puts out the fire. Galadria comes to and, upon noticing the devastation to the area, apologises to Trakk. Trakk is having nothing of it - his sacred tree is destroyed, his people are injured, his village is ruined. Despite her injuries, Galadria uses her new power shield to not only heal the villagers' injuries, but revive the burnt tree. Woozy from the effort, Galadria falls into Cryotek's arms. Trakk steps on their tender moment by pointing out that his village is still down a god-jewel, leaving them without much hope for the future. Galadria lectures him on how being special isn't a good thing and that now his tribe must struggle alongside all the others they previously looked down on and eventually be all the better for it. Cryotek swears that the Spectral Knights won't allow the remaining three talismans to fall into the hands of the Darkling Lords. Characters In order of appearance Quotes "We are not slaves, Merklynn. What we do, we do by free choice. Tell us what you want." "When you arrive at Iron Mountain and not before. Despite what you may imagine, good knight, in this life, only gods and fools are truly free to choose." :— Merklynn reminds Leoric who's boss (spelling mistakes corrected). "I've never seen a people so arrogant and sure of themselves." :— Cryotek harrumphs about Trakk and his tribesmen, but could just as easily be describing the Darkling Lords. "You see, Trakk -- when you have a gift that others need, you must share it. It sounds strange, I know -- but you can't keep what you aren't willing to give away." :— Galadria gives a very self-serving lesson on sharing. Notes Trivia *Galadria and Virulina finally get powers! This is long overdue in all continuities and is mostly likely down entirely to the comics' creative team (possibly responding to reader feedback; who knows?), as these powers don't appear in the animated series and Hasbro seemingly had no plans for figures of either character in 1988. *The creation of power shields rather than power staffs is interesting, though, and could possibly suggest that Conway and Bagley knew roughly what was coming in the future for the line, as the 1988 line shifted to shields rather than staffs. Or, it's just a total coincidence. Errors * Galadria's helmet is off after the tree fire is extinguished. It reappears in one panel when she activates her Healing power, then is gone once again. Continuity notes *Part one of a four-part story but, er, don't hold your breath for parts three and four. *Final appearances of Leoric, Darkstorm, Lexor, Reekon, Cravex, Witterquick, Galadria, Cryotek, and the Dagger Assault. *This issue sees all totem animals now depicted in the uniform green shade used for the Darkling Lords' totems in the animated series. No explanation is given. *The Star Comics logo appears again at the top of the first page, proclaiming it to be a "Star Comics presentation". This seems slightly unnecessary given the failing imprint's logo has already been removed from the cover. Reprintings *''Transformers'' (Marvel UK) #183 -186 - serialised back-up strip. References Category:Comic Books Category:Star Comics Category:Media Category:Fiction